Central & South Asia

Pakistan's Red Mosque leader killed

Army claims to have cleared up to 95 per cent of the mosque compound of fighters.

10 Jul 2007 15:01 GMT

The Pakistani government says Ghazi was killed in the final stage of Tuesday's assault [AFP]

Kamal Hyder, Al Jazeera's correspondent in Islamabad, said: "The fighting is really intense [and] is concentrating on the lower part of the building, some of the basement and a cave complex, we're told."

An Al Jazeera source said Uzbek fighters, armed with grenades and RPGs, were putting up the fiercest resistance and were also suspected of holding women and children hostage.

Hyder said it was unprecedented that Pakistan's elite force would struggle from before dawn into the evening to defeat the fighters.

"But the army is saying they are in control of the situatuion, they have already taken 95 per cent control, and the fighting is now slow, because they say they want to save maxiumum lives," Hyder said.

'Sanctity violated'

Major General Waheed Arshad, the chief military spokesman, told reporters on Tuesday that the armed students were firing on security forces from the minarets.